Thursday, April 26, 2018

Custom Quilting for an Appliqued Gem!

My latest client quilt turned out to be a lot of fun with a variety of custom quilting throughout! As I was quilting, I kept thinking of it as The Bunny Quilt, for good reason, don't you think?


This top was pieced a few years ago and was her first attempt at applique. I think she got the hang of it pretty well!


She used fabrics that were very traditional, maybe even some French General. All French General? At any rate, it was so fun to view this in person, but my photographic skills just don't do it justice.


She wanted 'light custom' for the quilting as she was donating the quilt to a charitable auction to benefit Hopewell, a therapeutic farm community near Cleveland, Ohio, that serves adults with mental illness.  A very generous offering from someone in Idaho!

I tried my best, but as the quilt progressed, I finally decided I just couldn't do 'light custom' on an applique quilt and just went for it.  I tried to change up the quilting in each of the blocks, but several have that easy outline quilting (definitely light custom on those). Pebbles, on the other hand, are not.


Fun feathers around the border. A flowing leaf in the sashing.


I found I really wanted to stitch in the ditch around all these blocks and the sashing. But I refrained - light quilting!



For the most part, I left the applique pieces unquilted. Except for a few straight-line stitching in the the birdhouse, water can and other spots. 



At any rate, it such a joy to have a quilt like this come through my door. I get to enjoy the labor of the quilter's efforts, and try to do something to enhance it just a bit.

I hope the auction brings a good amount for this quilt.

Oh - almost forgot to mention that I had an outbreak of Shingles while I tried to get this finished up for her deadline. Not fun! I even had the vaccine two years ago. Perhaps my case would have been more severe had I not had the vaccine. At any rate, I'd highly recommend everyone over 60 get a vaccine. There is a newer version now that is supposed to be more effective. Plus, I caught a killer cold and developed bronchitis while dealing with those shingles. Enough, already!

Come on Spring!

Quilting with a smile,
Barb


13 comments:

  1. Oh my, you did a fantastic job! These kind of quilts are so fun to quilt.

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  2. Gorgeous quilt and wonderful quilting, Barb!! I hope you are feeling better!! Shingles are the worst!! And with a cold and bronchitis thrown in?? Yikes!!

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  3. Oh this is such a glorious quilt and your quilting also! Aren't her colours a delight and the backing matching perfectly. I love this quilt!!

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  4. Beautiful quilt and lovely quilting! Hope you're feeling better!

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  5. WOW! This is spectacular! What a lot of work for a donation quilt. I would totally bid on that one if it were an auction near me. Your quilting on it is perfect too. I think you did a fine job with the pictures. :)

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  6. Wow! The quilter certainly hit a home run in her first appliqué attempt. And your "light custom plus" really enhances it. A beauty all around. Thanks for the shingles vaccine nudge. I should stop putting it off.

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  7. Beautiful quilting, my friend! Isn't it fun to pull out all the stops on a pretty applique quilt? Now, go relax and get rid of those shingles!

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  8. Hi Barb I think it is a stunning quilt and if this is the first attempt at applique I think she is a natural, mine still look like our dog, Treacle, did them (chewed round the edges!!!!). I hope you are feeling better now, it is always typical that you are ill with one thing and then catch something else. I have a cold at the moment and wish it was spring, but it is raining hard here today and will be most of our weekend. Hugs, Susie xx

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  9. It turned out beautifully. Great job on the quilting - it should raise lots of money.

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  10. Wow! It's a beauty! Beautiful applique and quilting. Sorry you have been sick, never fun.

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  11. I am just stunned at the level of detail you have in your work. It is really amazing. I wish I could see it in person. I have heard Shingles is terrible, eishing you well!

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  12. It's a beautiful quilt, and your quilting does enhance it. Your freehand quilting is quite lovely. That's an amazing quilt to donate to any cause, and I hope it brought in a lot of money for the beneficiary group.

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